The Agreement
by Ladyamesindy
Summary: What if Alistair's life had one more "choice" made for him by others? ONESHOT - has the potential to go back and be rewritten into a Cousland origin story ... if interest is there.


_Don't know why, but this idea came to me while watching a hockey match and trying to work on __**Do You Trust Me?**__ I decided that I had to run with it since the idea was a bit different, and it would not leave me alone! =D I've also been fighting off an allergies/cold/sinus thing so focusing has been difficult! I hope to have a new chapter for __**Do You Trust Me?**__ soon._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

"Rendon, I cannot in all conscience come to an agreement with you regarding your son and my daughter when my daughter has been betrothed since birth!" Bryce Cousland told his friend firmly. They were in his study. It was the eve of battle … or at least the eve of marching off to do battle at Ostagar. Already, his son and some of the troops from Highever had begun their march. All they were waiting for were the remaining troops of his friend, the Arl of Amaranthine, and they were due on the morrow if not sooner.

"That agreement has no validity, Bryce, and you well know it! Why the king would ever have put you into that position …."

Bryce spun around. There was something in his friend's voice that set his nerves on edge, something that was setting all kinds of alarms off inside his head. _But he is my friend_, Bryce thought. "Maric was a trusted friend as well as my king, Rendon. We made the agreement twenty years ago because we wanted to be sure our children had a future."

"Maric is dead, and his only _legitimate_ son now married. There is no sense in honoring an agreement regarding a bastard who will never inherit the throne … or any lands," Howe spat.

Bryce walked towards his friend. _What is going on?_ "Rendon, I will not, for any reason, go back on my word to my friend. Maric wanted the boy to have a chance to do what he wanted with his life, to live how he wanted. This was the only thing he _arranged_ for him."

"That _boy_ has never made any choices in his life for himself! Eamon sent him to the Chantry to become a Templar, remember? Templars take vows of chastity. Why continue to honor a marriage agreement when there is a chance to unite _our_ families, _our_ lands?"

The door to the study opened then, allowing entrance to the tall, dark, swarthy looking Grey Warden. Nodding at Bryce, a good friend and his current host, he turned towards the Arl. "My lord," his voice boomed, "I should point out, should you not be aware, that the Templars released Maric's son to me to become a Grey Warden. He is no longer bound by Templar ideals and the arrangement between him and Elissa Cousland is still valid."

Both Bryce and Duncan watched as the anger built in the man standing across from them. His face reddened, his body stiffened and it seemed as if he would explode at any moment…. And then he did.

Rendon Howe, armed with a dagger he had concealed in his shirt sleeve, lunged forward with the weapon, striking out at his friend. He knew the Warden would come after him, so in the instant that he struck he unexpectedly threw all of his weight at the Warden, knocking him over, and turned and fled the room.

Duncan knelt by his friend's side, assessing the damage. Bryce tried to speak, but Duncan waved it off, reaching for bandages he had in a side pouch. He knew, as did Bryce, that the attempt was futile, but it had to be made. Rising to their feet moments later, Duncan took Bryce's weight against him and led him out of the room.

Bryce was the first to notice the fires, the screams, the yells of battle. "Traitorous bastard!" he hissed, ignoring the pain for the moment.

"Bryce, we must get you to safety!" Duncan told him.

Bryce glanced at his friend. Shaking his head, he said sadly, "Duncan, you know as well as I that I'm done for." He reached out and clasped his friend in a warrior fashion. "Take me to the kitchen. I will wait in the larder, there's a secret exit there. My wife, my daughter … my family …"

Duncan nodded in understanding. "I will find them." It took much longer than he had anticipated to assist his friend to the larder, but once he set him there, Duncan ran out after the family he had promised to protect.

* * *

Elissa was kneeling beside Alistair as Wynne assisted her in removing his heavy armor. "Andraste's blood, Alistair, why couldn't you have been a rogue so you'd be in leather armor?" Elissa hissed in frustration as she searched for the buckles to release the breastplate.

"A Templar rogue?" he managed with a chuckle, and a hiss of pain. "Wynne, can't you –"

"Not until I can see the extent of the damage, Alistair," she told him firmly.

Finally the breastplate came off, Elissa throwing it aside and reaching for her dagger to slice his padding and shirt off of him. Moments later, she accepted a water skin from Leliana and drizzled some of the moisture over his skin to clear it off so that Wynne could get to work mending the wound. It was as she pushed aside the amulet he wore that Elissa noticed the pendant hanging from the same chain. The pendant that held the Cousland crest … a very unique pendant, enameled in with color. Only two were in existence ….

"Maker's breath!" Elissa cried softly, jumping to her feet and stumbling backwards.

Alistair watched her, concern growing on his features, but warring with the pain as Wynne's healing spells were still working on his ribs. "Lis? What is it?" He tried to reach out and grasp at her hand, but she had moved too far away. "Lissa?"

Elissa felt faint … could see spots darting in and out of her vision, and bent at the waist to try to dispel the sensation. She felt Leliana approach her, placing a soothing hand at her back, to let her know she was not alone. After a moment longer, she rose, standing tall and proud. She had a sudden vision of her father ….

"_Pup, you do know you are already betrothed?" Bryce asked her one evening when she was fifteen._

"_Yes, father," she had replied. This was something she had known since she was a young girl. "But, I don't know who he is."_

_Bryce's smile was warm and loving. He hated deceiving his daughter, but the boy's security had to be maintained, at least until he was old enough to defend himself and no matter how badly kept the secret actually was. "You will know him one day, Elissa," he promised. He reached over and pulled the chain that she always wore around her neck until the pendant at the bottom came loose from her dress. "See the Cousland crest here?"_

_Elissa nodded. She remembered the day her father had given it to her, had explained that it was special. "Yes. It says Alistair on the back side of it."_

_Bryce nodded. "Yes. Alistair, the man you will marry when you are older, he also wears one that has your name on it. That is the way in which you will know."_

_Elissa nodded in understanding._

Alistair watched her closely from his seated position. He noticed Wynne stepping back now, and glanced at her for a brief moment in which she nodded. Rising carefully to his feet, he waited until he regained his sense of balance before stepping towards Elissa. "Lissa?" he repeated, taking a hesitant step in her direction. He watched her reaching towards her neck, pulling out her amulet, _Warden's Oath_. Then he realized it wasn't the amulet she had grasped, but another pendant. Frowning, he finally reached her side. "Lis, talk to me!" he begged her.

Elissa held the pendant tightly in her left fist and reached up to touch his face. "I, …" She swallowed hard, trying to decide how best to let him know. "Alistair, I need to tell you something …."

Alistair saw that she was … well, afraid wasn't quite the right word, but she did seem nervous about something. He saw that she would glance down at her closed fist every once in a while, so he reached out for her hand, gently opening her fingers as a flower would open its petals in the spring. Frowning, he murmured, "What's this?" He lifted the pendant, … recognizing its face.

Elissa saw the shock that crossed his face when he recognized the pendant. "I am betrothed," she whispered, barely audible, but she saw him nod and knew that he had heard. "My intended wears a medallion like mine." She flipped the disc, showing him the reverse side. "His name is here, and mine is on his."

Alistair felt the blood drain from his face and for a moment he felt faint. "You!" he breathed. Grasping for his own pendant, he pulled it out, flipped both until they were crest-side up, then flipped again until he could see his with her name, and hers with his name.

Elissa watched the expressions crossing his face, tried interpreting them but was afraid she was reading him all wrong. _Oh please, _she thought, _let this be all right! Don't let it destroy what we'd begun to build without even knowing it!_

Alistair allowed the pendants to fall back and he lowered his hand, releasing hers. _Maker's breath!_ he thought. _What do I do now?_ He looked down into her eyes, blue depths that had been wreaking havoc with him since the day they had met. He vaguely remembered Duncan telling him to always remember his duty. _Duty_.

Elissa was stunned when he suddenly captured her face in both of his hands and leaned forward, his lips touching hers lightly at first, then becoming more demanding when she leaned into the contact. She slid her arms up his chest until she could wrap them around his neck to maintain her balance. She could feel one of his hands slide up behind her head, holding her close, tilting her head so that their mouths could meld together more closely.

When Alistair finally pulled back, both were breathing raggedly. He leaned his forehead against hers, and murmured, "Oh, Lis, I cannot begin to tell you just how happy I am that you are you!"

Elissa laughed, unaware that tears were coursing down her cheeks. Raising a hand to his cheek, she told him with a smile, "Oh, Alistair, I feel the same way!"

* * *

Elissa walked to the center of the Landsmeet, and said, "I have made my decision." She felt the eyes of all nobles, including Anora and Eamon lock onto her. She knew that the decision she made now might cause a furor, certainly Eamon had indicated as much from comments he had made to her earlier, but she also knew that she had a binding agreement with Alistair, one that was both by oath and by love, one that could not be broken, one that would unite not only them, but in the end Ferelden.

She waited for Alistair to look at her, nodding at her to go ahead and make the announcement. They had discussed this earlier that morning as one of the possible outcomes; as the only acceptable outcome should the opportunity present itself. "Alistair shall be king."

Cheers began, roaring loudly enough that Elissa had to wait a few moments for it to die down before she could continue. She watched as Alistair stepped forward then, standing directly in front of her. When he nodded at her again, she raised her voice once more. "And I shall rule beside him."

Alistair took her hand in his, taking one more step until he was beside her, turning them both until they faced the room filled with nobility. At first there was a silence that was almost "loud" in its absence of sound, but then the place erupted as the people within began to realize the import of her words. Alistair glanced down at Elissa and gave her a broad wink as if to say, "You see? I told you it would work!" She simply smiled back at him, her response indicating, "It was my idea!"

* * *

Six months later, the deal was sealed when King Alistair Theirin took Elissa Cousland as both his wife and his queen. Though there had been protests from some of the nobility, Eamon leading the way, once the revelation of their arranged marriage was announced, and the public became aware that they were marrying not only because of this but because they truly loved each other, the majority of claims against the marriage died down. Even Eamon, who realized quickly that Alistair and Elissa made a truly formidable pair, reversed his opinion and became a very outspoken proponent of the marriage.

That evening, after a parade throughout the city of Denerim so that the king could show off his new bride to the people; after a dinner and reception complete with not only Ferelden nobility but representatives from most of the nations of Thedas; Alistair managed to corner his bride in the reception hall and take her hand firmly, pulling her out of a nearby door. "Quickly, before they decide to try some kind of traditional something or other!" he whispered.

Elissa giggled, but willingly followed him throughout the halls. Thankfully, he seemed to know where he was going because she was having enough trouble just managing to hurry with the blasted skirt to her wedding dress tripping her every other step ….

When finally they reached the royal apartments, Alistair leaned back on the door to the room while Elissa slid the bolt. Breathing heavily, they fell into each other's arms, laughing. "You know," Alistair said, reaching for the back of her dress so that he could begin to release her from its confines, "we really ought to have told them."

Elissa raised an eyebrow as he lowered the top portion of her dress. She reached back to loosen a few more of the hooks until it would slide over her hips and onto the floor. That done, she stepped away, leaving it for a servant to find and put away somewhere …. "Can you imagine the Revered Mother's reaction had we done so?" she gasped as she felt his hands working on her remaining clothing items. She reached up and began unlacing his shirt. Smacking his hands away from her breast band, she hissed, "Damn it, Alistair, take your shirt off first!"

He chuckled, but did as she asked. "So," he teased, lifting his shirt over his head obediently, "is this the type of behavior I am to expect from my wife?"

Elissa ran her hands over his chest, silently loving the feel of his firm musculature as he moved. "I suppose … but only while she is expecting …." She looked up into his amber gaze and watched as the desire and passion that remained for her also allowed entrance to another emotion … pure unconditional love for the child they had created together.

Alistair reached down to touch her slightly rounded belly. "I wonder what our fathers would have thought of this," he murmured against her ear. "Of how our lives had turned out."

Elissa looked up at him seriously. "Would it be wrong of me to think that they foresaw what would happen?" she asked. "Why else would your father have worried about a son he never saw and my father worry about marrying me to an unknown?"

Alistair held her look, no longer bothered by his parentage or how he had come to his present situation. "Maybe they foresaw that we would simply meet and fall in love, no matter what happened around us or what came our way."

Elissa smiled up at her husband. "I can live with that," she told him, leaning into his warm, secure embrace.

"As can I."


End file.
